Reckless
by WritingSoul
Summary: While taking on a request in Mementos, Skull gets reckless. (TW: Abuse mentioned) [Mainly centered around Ryuji/Akira, others are just mentioned] [Makoto/Ann] [Yusuke/Futaba]


**A/N: I wanted to try writing this pairing, and I really wanted to try writing about how Ryuji being abused by his dad affected him/would affect the team if they got a similar mission. Enjoy, and maybe leave a comment or follow me for more, I guess? ((also i take requests))**

* * *

"Seiten Taisei!"

"Dance! Hecate!"

"Anat, come!"

"Micheal!"

Deep in the depths of Mementos, shadows were being torn to shreds. Electricity rained down from the ceiling, hitting some of the enemies. Shocks went up and down their bodies, and then they disappeared with a steaming sound. More took their place in seconds, but those were obliterated too, as a wall of fire shot up from underneath them, incinerating them. The next wave were dead before they even saw what hit them, a bright flare of blue nuclear power obliterating them to ashes, too. Grinning, Akira watched as the next wave hit them, and they were frozen solid by Michael. He switched his persona to Messiah-Picaro - watching as they shattered into fragments of ice.

When Skull doubled over, panting, Joker frowned, calling for Mona to use Diarahan on Skull. Mona nodded, doing just that. Skull straightened, but he still looked a bit winded.

"Let's head back," Joker said, watching his boyfriend with concern.

"No!" Skull objected, gritting his teeth. "I can still go on!"

"No you can't."

"Yes, I can!" Skull insisted, face going red at Joker's eye contact.

"Hey...maybe we should go back for today." Panther said quietly.

"No, we still have that mission! Switch me out with someone else!"

Joker looked back at the rest of his team. Even though he was only a little tired, everyone else seemed wiped. "Everyone else is just as tired as you are, Ryuji. As much as I hate to say it...this mission can wait until tomorrow."

"It can't!" Skull roared, running off.

Pain struck Joker suddenly, and he stopped to consider the position Skull was in. They'd gotten a request on the site the other day - it was from a middle aged woman. She pleaded with them in her message to help her children - one last resort. He'd taken his abuse a step too far - breaking her little boy's arm even as she tried to shield him. She couldn't take it anymore - and feared the day would come when her and her children died to the man. This struck home with Skull, he had been beaten by his alcoholic father - who had left. To think Skull had to go through that - it made him feel as if he were choking, a lump catching in his throat.

He shook his head, pausing a minute. Queen held Panther back as she attempted to run after her friend of many years.

"Oracle," He called. Oracle's voice was in his head now, clear and crisp. "

"On it!" She assured. He could hear distant tapping, and after a beat of silence, Oracle cried out to everyone. "Not good! He's nearing the target - and the reading's I'm getting are saying that this guy's tough!"

"Mona, van!" The cat like thing nodded, and the van was before them all in seconds. They all piled in, and Mona was going top speed through the floors of Mementos.

Hold on, Ryuji. We're coming.

* * *

When they found Ryuji, he was attempting to fight the guy single-handedly. He was panting, but commanding Seiten Taisei to the best of his ability. Joker had long since leaped out of the van, and just as he reached the blonde, Skull was stabbed. Just like that. No warning, no crying out from him, just a body falling down and warm blood going everywhere.

His blood sprayed Joker, who's clothes became damp. He lunged forward, grabbing Ryuji and gently lowering them to the floor, Skull's head in his lap. He took his pulse, praying it was there. It was, and he was alive. Blinking back tears, Joker calmed himself.

Joker's hands shook. "Queen, Mona, Fox, Noir, full assault! Show no mercy!"

Said people nodded, plunging into battle. From below him, Skull whimpered softly. "Ow, this hurts."

Joker brushed his hair back, smiling softly. "It's ok, it'll be over in just a second."

Panther was rushing over to them, dropping down to her knees in front of them and hovering her hands over Ryuji's wound. Her hands glowed with a soft light, and Ryuji's wound was quickly healing. She looked up at Joker, who's vision was getting blurrier by the second. Quickly, she wiped tears from her own eyes. "This should stabilize him until you can get to Takemi-san." She said. "I don't think we can risk taking him to a normal hospital, especially with Shido and Akechi on the lookout for us now."

Joker nodded, standing. "Let's wrap it up! Mona, switch out with me!"

Joker looked back to Panther, hovering slightly. "Stay with him." He ordered. Panther rolled her eyes. "As if you were going to get me to move in the first place,"

Mona ran over to them, nodding at Joker. Easily, he slid into battle. "Oracle, give me intel!"

Her voice rang in their heads. "He's at an extraordinarily high level, but he's weak to Ice skills, and he resists fire. Absorbs electricity, and curse is a no-go. But, they've worn him down to half. With your added ice skills, and the all-out attacks that'll happen, he should be dead by the time Queen's next turn rolls around."

Joker nodded. "Good work." Oracle made a noise of happiness at the praise, and now he was dodging out of the way of the wind attacks.

"Satan!" He called, summoning his persona. The large demon moved forward, moving ice fragments up to incase the enemy, honing them so that they stabbed the enemy. The other demon was knocked down and dizzy, and Joker ordered an all-out attack. They kicked, hit and slashed with their weapons. Stepping back to her original position, Noir used One-shot kill, doing some decent damage. Fox followed up with a Bufudyne, and they moved in for an attack, effectively destroying the shadow. Joker looked down at the man's shadow with disgust. "Go back. Repent. Turn yourself in. And for the love of god, leave those children and that woman alone."

The man couldn't say anything to Joker's tone, he only nodded and dispersed. Joker grabbed what was almost a fully formed treasure, turning away and rushing back to Skull. Fox, Noir and Queen were hot on his tail. "Panther, how is he?"

Panther frowned. "I've been keeping the healing spells going - and he seems better, but I don't know how long it'll be before he starts bleeding again on the way home…" she frowned.

Joker got to his knees, pulling open the blood soaked jacket. He wrapped it in bandages, not knowing much else to do as he closed the shirt back up. "I'll have Takemi heal it...he's lost a lot of blood. He probably won't be able to go back to school for at least a week….but Takemi can take care of that."

"You'll have to call Ms. Sakamoto, too…" Panther sighed.

Joker nodded. "I'll just alter the story a bit...but the rest will be the honest-to-god truth."

"Whatever the case...let's get out of here."

* * *

They managed to get Ryuji to Takemi's clinic, who rushed him back and began working on him, calling in favors from some of her contacts, who rushed to the clinic to help. Akira leaned up against the wall outside of the door, worried. Of course they had healed him - but would that be enough? To ease his worries, Ann rubbed his back, hand intertwined with Makoto's. Futaba sat next to Yusuke on the other side of the room, and Haru was petting Morgana anxiously.

He gave her a soft smile, patting her on the shoulder as he walked outside to inform Ryuji's mother of his condition.

After a couple rings, the woman picked up. By the sound of it, she was still at work. "Ms. Sakamoto?" He asked.

"Ah, Kurusu-kun! Why the call?"

"Just Akira's fine, ma'am. Ryuji got into a fight with a man today near Leblanc in Yongen-Jaya. The man was beating his wife and children openly, right in front of their house. Unfortunately, no one else was outside. Ryuji stepped in...and he got injured. Apparently, the man was drunk and had a knife on him."

He could hear Ms. Sakamoto gasp. "Is he okay?" She asked urgently. Akira pressed his lips together, blinking back tears to make sure his voice stayed even. He hated the injuries, the emotional trauma, and generally anything bad that befell any of his team.

Especially Ryuji. "He will be. The knife got him pretty good...but there's a doctor in Yongen-Jaya who's taking care of his injuries now. Luckily, we were able to get him there before it got too bad. He'll be all patched up in about an hour, but he'll have to stay home for about a week so that his injury can heal."

"I'll be there in 45 minutes!" She exclaimed, ending the call.

Akira sighed and went inside to wait.

* * *

True to her word, 45 minutes later, Ms. Sakamoto was rushing inside the clinic. She had brown hair, tied up in a bun, and equally as brown eyes that matched her son's. Her hands were calloused, blouse and slacks ruffled as she stepped inside. "Is he okay?" she asked frantically.

"Yes, he's going to be just fine," Takemi said, stepping out of the back. Akira looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I thought it would be an hour?"

Takemi shook her head. "The wound wasn't as bad as it looked, and my associates work faster than I thought they would. Now, who do I send the bill to?" She said. To everyone else, it looked as if she were a money-grubber, but Akira could see the glints of amusement in her eyes.

Before anyone had a chance to respond, she said; "Kidding. Akira can work it off later,"

Rolling his eyes, Akira playfully stuck his tongue out at her. "Can we go back and see him?"

Takemi shrugged. "If you want to see him all drugged-out, go ahead." Ann let out a little snort at that, and Ms. Sakamoto rushed back, finding Ryuji easily. Akira followed, and the others stay put for a moment, knowing that they needed a second alone.

Once she found Ryuji, she kissed his forehead, scolding him gently through her tears. "Don't you ever scare me again like that, young man."

Even though he was drugged out, he looked up to his mom with guilty expression and said; "Sorry mom,"

She hugged him, kissing his cheek. "I'm so proud of you," she murmured.

Tears came to Ryuji's eyes as he lifted an arm up to hug his mom.

Akira just watched on, a gentle smile on his face as he looked at the two.

* * *

A day or two passed, and finally Ryuji was released to go home. Akira came to stay with him while his mother was at work, and they cuddled on his futon as they watched TV. Somehow, they were laughing, and Ryuji's hands had been pinned down to the futon above his head, one of Akira's gently securing his hands together as he tickled the other boy, straddling his waist.

Ryuji was laughing up a storm, and Akira was chuckling gently. As their laughter faded, they looked each other in the eye. Akira's other hand came out to stroke his boyfriend's cheek, saying: "You had me scared,"

Ryuji sighed. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't... I couldn't let them go through it a day more than I had to."

Smiling gently, Akira leaned down, kissing him softly and tenderly. Ryuji kissed back just as softly, expressing feelings he didn't know how to express through words.

Pulling back, Akira kissed his forehead. "You're reckless," another kiss on his cheek, "and caring," a kiss on his other cheek, "and brave," a kiss on his nose, this time, "and so many other great things i can't find the words to say right now," and there were his lips - back on Ryuji's. He pulled back again. "And I love you."

Ryuji's face went cherry red, electricity seeming to pass between the two as it was silent for a moment. Ryuji was filled with a warmth that ran all the way up and down his body, making him feel safe and loved. Ryuji had never stopped to consider whether his feelings were 'like' or 'love'. For him, it had always been one thing. One person.

He'd always loved Akira; and this was just adding to that. And so, blushing extremely hard, he responded; "I love you, too."

This kiss that followed was soft, slow and sweet, and after, Akira had let go of his wrists, coming to place both hands on his cheeks. Their foreheads touched, and Ryuji couldn't help but think that he wouldn't mind staying here forever, as cheesy as it was.


End file.
